The four mobile companies operating in Albania posted income of 32 billion lek in 2014 (Euro 224 million), down 13 percent compared to 2013
TIRANA, April 4 – Mobile companies posted a decline in income for the second year in a row on lower number of active users and reduced tariffs fuelled by tougher competition, the Electronic Communications Authority said in an annual report.
The four mobile companies operating in Albania posted income of 32 billion lek in 2014 (Euro 224 million), down 13 percent compared to 2013. The number of active mobile users, defined as those that have made or received at least a call or SMS in the last three months, dropped by 9 percent to 3.4 million in 2014 while the average revenue per user dropped to Euro 39 a year, down from Euro 42 a year earlier on lower mobile rates.
Leading Vodafone Albania operator, part of UK-based giant Vodafone Group present in Albania since 2001, reported income of 15.3 billion lek (Euro 107 million) in 2014, down from 18.5 billion lek (€130 mln) in 2013 and a record high of around 25 billion lek (€174.7 mln) in 2008, registering the poorest performance in the past decade. Vodafone continued maintaining its lead position in the Albanian mobile communication market, but saw its market share drop to 47 percent in 2014, down from 50 percent in 2013 and a record high of 56 percent in 2012.
AMC, the second largest operator, part of Greece’s Cosmote Group and Deutsche Telecom, also registered its poorest performance in a decade with its revenue dropping to 11.2 billion lek (€78.7 mln), down from 12 billion lek (€84.7 mln) in 2013, and a record high of 23.4 billion lek (€164.5 mln) in 2008. AMC, which was the first operator to launch operations in Albania in 2000 saw its market share slightly increase by 2 percent to 35 percent in terms of revenue in 2014.
Turkish-owned Eagle Mobile, which has been present in Albania since 2008, posted income of 4 billion lek (€27.7 mln) in 2014, down from 4.2 billion lek (€29.4 mln) in 2013, which was the company’s best performance during its first six years of operation. Eagle Mobile, part of Calik Group present in Albania with Albtelecom landline and internet provider and BKT bank, increased its market share by 1 percent to 12 percent in 2014.
Plus Communication, the smallest and only Albanian-owned mobile operator, posted income of 1.8 billion lek (€12.7 mln) in 2014, down from 2.2 billion lek (€15.2 mln) in 2013, but maintained its 6 percent market share.
After a recovery in 2012, mobile companies posted 37 billion lek (Euro 261 million) in revenues in 2013, a 12 percent decline compared to 2012, suffering their lowest level since a decade ago when only two mobile companies operated in Albania
Mobile companies’ revenues registered a turning point in 2012 when they increased by 7.2 percent to 42 billion lek (Euro 291 million), ending their downward trend in the 2009-2011 period.
The number of active mobile users dropped to 3.4 million in 2014, down from 3.7 million at the end of 2013 with a penetration rate of 119 percent compared to 130 percent a year earlier.
Mobile phone tariffs continued dropping even in 2014 with Albanians spending an average of 2.63 lek (€0.018)/minute, down from 3.13 lek (€0.021)/minute in 2013 and 6.49 lek (€0.045)/minute in 2010.
Last March all Vodafone, AMC and Eagle Mobile were granted licences to launch the fourth generation of mobile service known as 4G LTE for a total amount of 23.5 million euros, the electronic communications authority
The electronic communications authority has recently ruled the application of unified on-net and off-net tariffs has been postponed until July 1, 2015 for pre-paid subscribers and until January 1, 2016 for post-paid subscribers. The decision was taken following complaints of short notice by the two biggest operators.
With on-net calls accounting for the overwhelming majority of 93 percent of mobile phone calls, the Electronic Communication Authority has decided that all four mobile phone operators must charge unified tariffs for both on-net and off-net calls to bring an end to discrimination for the smaller operators who claim the differentiated prices allow the bigger operators to keep their market shares.
In a report analyzing the mobile phone market in Albania, AKEP, which is responsible for regulating this market, considers the differentiated tariffs as abusive and damaging competition.
The Electronic and Postal Communication Authority, AKEP, has also decided to apply new cuts to mobile termination tariffs which is expected to bring another decrease in mobile tariffs in the next two years. “By January 2016, mobile termination tariffs for the four operators will reach 1.48 lek/minute which is a decrease from 68 to 83 percent compared to the current termination rates.”
